Pages

Scrutinize Inventory: Living Room

We are a family of two
adults, two children and one dog. We live in in a 1930s art deco duplex. Our
apartment is gorgeous but rent is cheaper (not super-cheap) because we've had
the lease for ten years, we're not demanding of the landlord and the apartment
is not in the 'best' part of town. We really live our lives in the
living/family room. It's huge with 12 ft ceilings. This is an inventory of the living room.

Clockwise from door, the larger pieces

(By the way, if I don't know where something was made, I
assume it was made in China. Many of those items were purchased at
"Ikea," something I am re-evaluating.)

Francine Jay's Joy of Less helped me release my craft-hobby
furniture. The kids' books are in the bedroom. My craft supplies are in closets
(another post to come). Without a coffee table, the kids have room to roam.

I no longer keep my books, mags or dvds in the living room-that's really cut clean up.

Since making this inventory, I have almost cleared the 60" mantel (only the wifi remains), removing the felt dolls, the paper lantern, and the flowers in the tall vase. I removed the six frames with family pictures above the sofa, and replaced it with my branch with flowers. My picture shows the damage I did for my 'pictorial essay hoard' before (a Martha Stewart crapitalist conspired project).

Minimalism must reflect and advocate 'lived life,' not illusory perfectionism. As a mother with children, I see the living room as our playroom--it is as much the children's domain as it is the adult's. The dogma and perfectionism of minimalism (especially from browsing pictures of high-end homes with two pieces of furniture in white rooms) is a mystification to sell "status" and other 'high brow' crap (usually real estate or five-digit priced furniture). I could get rid of the tv, media stand, armchairs, stool/table and kids sofa to create a 'minimal' space. Then I could eliminate the sofa, the kids toys and dh's desk. However, as these are vigorously used and beloved objects, eliminating them for the sake of minimalism is absurd and wasteful. (However, for a college graduate starting with zero furniture, pictures of spare homes can keep-in-check artificial desire to hoard crap instead of developing relationships or dealing with uncomfortable and immaterial feelings.)

I've obsessed over white floors as seen in Scandinavian blogs, but that would require time, money and permission to fix my rental. I've lusted after white-white walls, but who will clear out the walls and rooms, buy the supplies, research the eco paint, paint the damn walls and safely dispose of the paint and supplies? We live in a servant-less society. That's modern living. I don't want to make myself into a servant for the sake of my consumer desires.

Although we got rid of cable, we watch movies on our tv and surf the internet on our computers (but I am open to experiments of going without tv, dryer, internet, etc.). Our life is modern, not Amish (with some regret). We are detraditionalized. Modernity is... to be in the matrix of crapitalism (car system, mcdonaldization of food outlets, home ownership system, the international advertising-making-selling-buying crap system, etc), for better and worse. So we partake in modernity, but we are buckling down and constantly re-evaluating our false mystified desires versus our actual needs. I'm a hard-ass, but I'm gonna forgive myself for partaking in crapitalist activities and support my transition to a less wasteful, more simple life, with simple defined not by archaic tradition, but my own creative intelligence. (I've basically written all this to keep in check my perfectionism.)

If it doesn't pass the test of true life--lived day-to-day reality--it's a ruse: an illusion, a distraction, and a disappointment.

Have you tried making an inventory of your living room? Tip: do it while watching Hoarders to get your decluttering on!

1 comment:

Like your style! Doing the same thing.. trying to get rid of cheap products from China... I'm soon starting a shop and stupidly ordered some items from a large company and guess what some of it is being sent back.. Chinese stuff that's too expensive and cost the producer lets face it nothing... so I will be concentrating on finding lovely old French stuff instead.. good idea making an inventory.. have newer tried it. Thank you so much for your kind comment on my blog. Have a nice day!Hege